Somewhere a Clock is Ticking
by claraosforthewin
Summary: Prom is often the night to remember. For Eli Goldsworthy, it's a night he won't soon forget. AU


**A/N: the idea for this fic was inspired by, ****_"Before I fall,"_**** by Lauren Oliver, among other things. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi. It's probably for the best.**

* * *

Prom night. It was the social event to end all high school social events. The social gathering that celebrated the accomplishment of a high school education and the completion of the school year.

As Eli Goldsworthy ripped _yet another _prom campaign poster off his locker (this one read, _"Vote Mo's car for worst in the parking lot," _which Eli knew if Morty was still drivable, _he_ would win the title.) he dreaded the night ahead of him all over again. He was over the whole idea of prom before the tickets for, _"A Night to Remember," _went on sale.

It wasn't like he was ever into school dances anyway. They hadn't changed much since the days of elementary school when the boys and girls separated themselves by an invisible tether and wouldn't go near each other in fear of contacting a foreign disease. In recent memory, the last couple of dances at Degrassi had all ended in a catastrophe of some sort. He would be shocked if something _didn't_ happen tonight.

Despite his negative attitude towards the event, the sole reason Eli was going to prom was because of Fiona, Imogen, and Adam, to a lesser extent. The trio had presented an unarguable case that he'd regret the decision in later years to skip prom. He had to hand it to them; they did a pretty good job to convince him going tonight was the right thing to do. Besides, he needed to loosen himself up and have a little fun for once in his life before he started University in the fall.

As he grabbed the dress shirt and pants he recently had dry cleaned from his locker, Eli was informed by text message that he was needed of assistance by Fiona. Most of the grade twelves had taken the day off to pamper themselves to perfection before prom. Seeing how deserted his classes were today, he was clearly the exception. As far as he knew, Fiona, along with Adam and Imogen, were currently getting the loft ready for the after prom party Fiona had eagerly volunteered herself to host. He skipped out on most of the preparations by using school as an excuse. It wasn't mandatory to attend class today, but it was better than spending the day with Fiona as she debated on what colour streamers looked best with the balloons.

He quickly typed a short message that indicated to Fiona he had finished school and was on his way over. He slipped his phone into his pocket and re locked his locker. As he flung the dress shirt and pants over his shoulder, Eli walked towards the front doors of Degrassi and spotted in his peripheral vision, Clare Edwards grabbing something from her locker.

He made sure he was out of her sight completely so he wouldn't seem like a creep if she did spot him. Clare had shut her locker and was looking down at her phone with a soft smile on her face. She had probably read a text from that Cliff guy who was taking her to prom tonight. Although he didn't like to admit it, Eli had heard plenty of Degrassi gossip over the past couple of weeks on who was taking who to prom. Even if he turned a blind ear to it all, it was kind of difficult to ignore.

Although he mentioned to Fiona, Imogen, and Adam that he couldn't care less who Clare went to prom with, it secretly killed Eli inside that it wasn't_ him_. But who was he kidding? He screwed up royally with her. It wasn't like she was going to take him back after he publically humiliated her in front of her fellow peers and then went even further to blame her for his reaction to Cam's death. Clare made it quite clear after losing the student council election that she didn't want anything to do with him. Eli didn't blame her. He knew that after all the bullshit he had put her through; _he_ wouldn't want anything to do with himself either. As Eli left Degrassi and walked towards the streetcar stop, he just hoped whoever Cliff was, he would make this night for her better than he ever could have.

The sound of the streetcar's rusty brakes had diminished all thoughts of his lost love out of his head. He dropped a toonie into the till and was handed his transfer. He found a seat towards the back of the streetcar and draped the hanger that hung his prom attire over the adjacent seat. As he leaned his head against the dirty streetcar window and closed his eyes, he wondered what was in store for him at Fiona's loft when he got there.

* * *

"It's about time you showed up!" Fiona hastily greeted Eli as he walked into her loft. Before he took off his shoes, Eli was quickly handed a blue binder with lined papers that spilled out of the rings.

"And what exactly do you expect me to do with this?" he asked, as he waved the binder in his right hand.

"It's my prom after party planning binder," Fiona began. "It has everything needed to make sure this after party is successful."

Eli was confused. "And why did you just hand it to me then?"

Fiona took the binder from Eli's grasp and opened it. The first page inside the binder was what seemed to be a checklist.

"This is everything that has already been done," Fiona pointed at the first couple of handwritten sentences. They all had bright red check marks at the beginning of the task that indicated they were completed. She then pointed to the rest of the list. "Now these are the things that you and Adam need to do while Imogen and I get ourselves ready for prom."

Before Eli could open his mouth to protest, Imogen appeared by Fiona's side, carrying her purse. She quickly gave Eli a kiss on the cheek, then grabbed Fiona by the hand and pulled her towards the door to make their getaway.

"Everything better be done before I come back." Fiona's voice trailed off into the distance. He could hear Imogen giggling in the elevator as it went down.

As he cursed himself for getting stuck in this situation, Eli turned to the binder forcefully placed in his hands. The last task completed was, _"Decorate the loft."_ As he looked around the loft, Eli had to admit it looked impressive considering it was decorated by three teenagers. Sliver, blue and white balloons embellished the place. Streamers the same colour as the balloons were strung around the walls. Twinkly lights were woven around the banister. The place looked magical and mysterious. If Eli didn't know any better, he would have assumed that this is where prom was taking place.

After he took a moment to admire Fiona, Imogen, and Adam's hard work, he looked to the list to see what was to be done next. _"Set up tables." _ He groaned. Of course they leave him and Adam to do the hard labour.

At the thought of Adam, Eli wondered where he was. Adam would have certainly greeted him with some kind of sarcastic remark when he showed up.

His question was answered by a loud snore that came from the couch. Eli walked over to the couch and peered over to see Adam in a deep sleep. He smirked to himself as he wondered how extensive the preparations must have been for Adam to be passed out like this. Eli walked around the couch and stood in front of the coffee table.

"Torres, have we been working hard this afternoon or hardly working?"

Adam's responded to Eli's question was in the form of a loud snore. Certainly not the response he wanted. He then cupped his hands around his mouth to project his voice. "Adam, wake up, we're leaving for prom!"

Adam quickly jolted from his sleep like someone had slipped an ice cube down his back.

"You cannot be seri-," Adam spoke, still with traces of his fatigue in his voice and drool on his chin. Eli on the other hand, leaned over the coffee table as he battled a fit of laughter.

"You should have seen the look on your face," Eli gasped as he tried to catch his breath. "You're taking this prom thing even more seriously than Imogen and Fiona combined."

Adam shot him a nasty glare. "Well excuse me for wanting to have a good time. Not everyone is being _forced _to attend tonight_." _

Eli smirked at his statement. "So what exactly did you guys do while I was at school?"

Adam took a deep breath. "We mostly cleaned and decorated the loft. Fiona made us redecorate a few spots because they weren't up to her "standards," he air quoted his final words. "Then we went out to pick up the catering and then we took a break…" Adam's voice trailed off.

".. Which lead to your cat nap," Eli finished. "I see. Well, I hate to break it to you, but Fiona and Imogen expect us to finish the rest of their work and looking from the extensive list they left in their place," he gestured toward the binder in his hand, "We have a lot do before five-thirty. "

Adam rose from the couch to face Eli. "This better be worth it in the end. I guess this is one of the things I'll miss about Fiona next year," He added solemnly. "No one knows how to throw a party like Fiona Coyne."

"There's no need to get all mushy and sentimental right now, Torres." Eli commented. "We have tables to set up." He gestured towards the stacked pile of folded over tables in the corner.

"We might as well get started before they get back and have our heads." Adam announced. "I'll grab one end of the table."

* * *

After both boys spent the afternoon setting up tables, vacuuming the carpets, and loading the confetti canon (which went off unexpectedly and left Adam with a face full of confetti and Eli with no choice but to vacuum up the remains of confetti that scattered the floor) Adam and Eli were down to the final task: _Put together party favours_.

"So prom.." Adam began, tying a string of silver ribbon around a gold gift bag.

"What about it?" Eli asked as he took the gift bag from Adam and threw it into a pile with half a dozen similar ones.

Adam sighed. "It's just...It's just not what I expected it to be like." He grabbed an empty gold gift bag and started to stuff it with silver tissue paper.

Eli chuckled. "What I didn't expect is Fiona drawing out a pictorial diagram of how she wants the loot bags to be assembled." The drawing was extremely extensive and showed how each bag was to be put together. "If only she put this much effort into her schoolwork, she might have been an A+ student."

Adam chucked a gift bag at Eli's head. "I'm sure if she had heard that, you wouldn't be allowed inside the limo she rented and paid for."

Eli shrugged as he placed a shot glass into a bag. "I just don't understand why she's put so much effort into something that many of us won't remember in a year."

Adam tossed a plastic bottle of bubbles into a gift bag. "It might not be a big deal to you, but to some people, Fiona included, it is. I know if certain circumstances were different, you wouldn't have this attitude."

"What do you mean by "certain circumstances?" Eli inquired.

"I mean if you..." Adam stammered off, as his eyes focused a bit too much on the fistful of mints he threw into a gift bag. "If you had a date, you wouldn't have this whole facade about how prom sucks and you're being held against your will by going tonight."

Eli raised an eyebrow. "You think that's why I think this whole ordeal is a waste of time and energy?" he spat out. "I'm sorry Torres, but that's the furthest reason why I don't want to go tonight."

Adam wasn't convinced. "So you're telling me that if you were going to prom with Clare, you would feel the same way you do now?"

At the mention of Clare's name, Eli clenched the fistful of ribbons in his hand. He twisted the ribbons around his finger. "Maybe you're right," he mumbled into the ribbons. "Maybe I wouldn't feel the same if I was going to prom with her. I've fucked up too much with her for that to change."

"Well, maybe it's not too late to fix that," Adam pointed out as he picked up a picture frame. "I'm sure she wants to go to prom with you as much as you want to go to prom with her."

"Yeah, I find that hard to believe," Eli muttered as he forcefully threw a gift bag into a pile of accumulated bags. It proceeded to knock a few down in its path. "She looked pretty happy this afternoon reading a text from that Cliff guy. It's probably for the best she goes with him anyway." He chucked an assortment of favours into a gift bag and caused it to topple over.

Adam sighed at the sight of Eli's work and took the gift bag away from him to prevent any further damage. "You really need to stop taking your anger out on the party favours," he remarked. "I know you don't mean what you just said. I know you still love her. Maybe all she needs to hear is an apology from you."

Eli took a deep breath. "And what happens if she doesn't want to hear one?"

Adam started taking out the multitude of mints Eli decided to place in the gift bag. "Then we've been hanging out with two different Clare Edwards then. If you're sincere and honest about your apology, she will forgive you. She's a pretty forgiving person."

"You really think so?" Eli asked optimistically.

"Yeah, I do," Adam shrugged. "I don't understand why it has taken you so long to apologise to her in the first place."

"Well, I thought I completely fucked things up with her that even an apology wouldn't fix it but maybe you're right. I just wished I would have done the obvious before it was too late."

"It's never too late. You still have tonight. And tomorrow. And graduation. It's not like you or Clare are going anywhere anytime soon. Stalling it is just making it worse." Adam pointed out. "Now pass me the last bag."

Eli handed him the bag and took a deep breath as he thought about what Adam had just said. "You're right. I guess I'll find her at prom and talk to her then," he stated as he passed Adam the last couple of party favours. "Thanks Torres."

Adam tossed the last gift bag an overflowing corner of other ones. "No problem. We put together Fiona's party favours exactly how she wanted them and we talked about our feelings. We killed two birds with one stone."

Eli nodded. "And now we have to put all of those party favours on top of that table," He pointed to the table that had seemed to be completely covered in little mountains of gold bags. "Our work never seems to be done."

As if on cue, Fiona and Imogen made their re-entrance. Both girls looked all dolled up and ready for prom. They sported matching French manicures and their hair and makeup was done. All they needed to do was to slip on their dresses and they were ready to go.

"I'm assuming that both of you got everything done?" Fiona asked.

"Hello to you too, Fiona, Imogen," Adam retorted. "Yeah, we got everything done, unless you have other things for us to do."

Fiona walked around the foyer of the loft as she admired Eli and Adam's work. "No, I think that's everything," She said satisfied. "I'm impressed by your work. I was worried that both of you wouldn't finish in time and would have to miss prom to finish, but..I'm shocked to say the least."

"So I guess that means we're free to go then?' Eli asked.

"Yes." Fiona answered. "Both of you can get ready upstairs."

Both boys took off towards the stairs. "We're leaving in less than an hour!" Fiona bellowed from the bottom of the stairs. "You better be ready by then!"

* * *

Eli got ready for prom in record timing. It wasn't like there was much for him to do. Buttoning up a white shirt and pulling on a pair of black dress pants didn't take much effort. He showered in the morning to save himself time to be at Fiona's mercy. It also didn't make sense to leave school, help Fiona out and then go home only to return to the loft once more.

Adam on the other hand, struggled to make a decision on what shirt to wear and relied solely on the opinion of someone who couldn't give two shits about fashion.

"You should ask Fiona about this kind of thing." Eli suggested.

"Yeah I should, but remember the last time I went to ask Fiona for something in this very loft? As much as I love Fiona and Imogen, walking in on them is an image I would very much like to erase from my mind."

Eli smirked. "Well you now know better and will knock before entering any room in this loft. Too bad you learned that the hard way."

Adam gave Eli a light shove. "In all seriousness, which shirt would look better? Becky's wearing a peach dress, so I don't want to clash against her."

"In that case, I think you should go for the white shirt because one, we should match and two, we all don't want to upset Becky tonight, do we?" Eli sneered.

Adam rolled his eyes. "Thanks for your advice. " He picked up the white shirt off of Fiona's guest bed and slipped his arms through the sleeves. He buttoned it up and smoothed the non visible wrinkles on the shirt. "How do I look?" Adam asked nervously.

"Becky will not be able to resist you." Eli commented.

"Thanks man." Adam chuckled. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

As Adam began to tuck in his shirt, Fiona had knocked on the door. "Adam, your lovely date is here!"

Adam gulped. "Well, here goes nothing, I suppose."

"There's nothing to be nervous about," Eli advised. "You need to relax. It's just Becky Baker for crying out loud."

Both boys exited the guest bedroom and walked down the stairs to see Becky Baker nervously stand in the foyer. She was looking at her feet and had her arms crossed over her chest. Like Adam mentioned, she was wearing a peach empire waist knee length dress. Her blond hair was curled and was clipped away from her face in a half ponytail.

"Wow Becky, you look..In-incredible." Adam stuttered nervously.

"Why thank you Adam," Becky smiled. "You look very handsome yourself. So do you, Eli."

"Thanks Becky." Eli mumbled.

"I brought you a corsage to wear tonight, seeing that I'm taking you to prom and all, but I seem to have forgotten it upstairs. Um excuse me." Adam quickly darted towards the flight of stairs and stumbled on the third step up before he disappeared out of sight.

_Thanks a lot Adam,_ Eli mentally cursed his best friend for leaving him alone with Becky Baker of all people. Sure, they were on better terms with each other since _Romeo and Jules_, but it was still awkward to be alone in the same room with her.

There was an awkward silence between them before Becky bravely broke the ice. "So Eli, where's your date?"

"I've decided to go the nontraditional route and go solo." Eli expressed without emotion.

"Oh, I was expecting you to go with Clare Edwards since you two are dating." Becky said.

"We broke up a couple of weeks ago," Eli replied dryly. He hoped that Adam would find that damn corsage already so Becky would stop engaging in awkward conversations with him.

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry to hear that. You two looked very happy when we worked on Romeo and Jules. What hap-." Before Becky could continue, Adam had reappeared with a small white box. He opened the lid and inside was a corsage with light pink and peach roses that matched Becky's dress perfectly. With shaky hands, Adam laced the white ribbon over Becky's right wrist and tied a knot to secure it.

"Oh Adam, it's lovely," Becky sighed as she admired the flowers. "Thank you."

Adam blushed at her compliment. "It was no big deal."

As Adam and Becky stared at each other with pure adoration, Fiona and Imogen walked into the foyer. "Aww, did we interrupt something?" Fiona asked.

Before Adam could respond, Eli interrupted. "No you didn't. We were just discussing when the limo was going to pick us up."

Fiona looked at the sliver watch on her right wrist, covered by her own red and white rose corsage. "Hmm, it's five-thirty now; I'm going to assume that it will be here any moment now."

The group of friends waited in an awkward silence, born out of nervousness and apprehensiveness for the night ahead. Fortunately, Fiona was notified by phone call that the limo was waiting for them out front. Everyone put on their choice of footwear and walked towards the elevator. Fiona pressed the down arrow as everyone walked inside. "Someone needs to say something; the silence here is killing me." she exclaimed.

"Okay," Imogen began, "Who did you vote for prom royalty?"

"Doesn't that happen _during_ prom?" Adam assumed.

"Um, no," Fiona turned to Adam, "We were supposed to vote during our lunch period. Don't_ you_ read out the announcements every day?"

"That doesn't mean I actually _listen_ to them," Adam retorted. He then turned to Eli, "Did you know about this?"

"Of course I did," Eli said matter of factly. I tune into the announcements as I apply my daily coat of black sharpie on my fingernails."

Imogen, Fiona, and Becky giggled at Eli as Adam rolled his eyes. "So since _you're_ so attentive, who did you vote for?"

"No one," Eli acknowledged. "I said I heard the announcement, not that I voted for anyone. Besides, like every election ever held and voted by teenagers, it's all based on how popular you are. There was really no point of voting."

Before anyone protested, the elevator door opened and revealed the lobby of Fiona's building. As Fiona walked out of the elevator, a loud clap of thunder greeted her, as it bounced off the windows complete with a heavy rain shower

"Well, that's just great," Imogen stated. "Does anyone have an umbrella?" Everyone shook their heads.

"Well, I guess we're just going to have to take a mad dash to the car then," Imogen squeaked as she took off her heels and skipped towards the revolving glass doors of the lobby.

Fiona was far from amused. "Stupid Toronto spring weather. It just _had_ to rain on the most important day of my grade twelve year," she grumbled as she too took off her heels and pushed her way through the revolving door.

"Pretty sure the most important day of any grade twelve's year would be their graduation," Adam pointed out as him, Eli and Becky exited the building and was hit with the fury of a Toronto downpour. Adam grabbed Becky's hand as they ran towards the limo, leaving Eli trailing behind them.

Eli picked up his pace as he jogged towards the parked limo. He could feel the rain on his skin as it drenched every part of his body. His shirt and pants clung to his body like glue and his hair stuck to his face awkwardly.

He shut the door to the limo and took a seat in front of Imogen and Fiona. Adam and Becky sat at the back of the limo. The doors of the limo locked shut as it started to move to their destination.

"Well, at least we're not totally soaked," Imogen pointed out as Adam rung out the water from his shirt on the limo's interior carpeting. "It could have been worse."

"Imogen's right, it could have been worse." Becky chimed in.

"And what exactly could have been worse," Fiona asked, clearly annoyed with Becky and her girlfriend's optimism. "I spent an hour and a half and seventy-five dollars on my hair and I have nothing to show for it!"

Becky didn't respond to Fiona's outburst, with good reason. Fiona looked upset and was consoled by Imogen, who told her that she looked beautiful and that no rain could ruin that.

The rain began to come down harder, as it rattled against the windows of the limo. Eli closed his eyes as it took in the simplicity of it all, ignoring the fact that he was on his way to prom with four other people. He heard bits and pieces of Imogen and Becky's conversation about graduation, but he mentally tuned them out. The sounds of the rain soothed him and made him feel like he could do anything, anything meaning that he could man up and apologise to Clare for his choice of words to her nearly three weeks ago.

Suddenly, the calming sounds of the rain were replaced by the static sound of a car horn. It seemed like it was from a distance and became clearer and closer until the sound of a car skidding and struggling to remain in control overtook it.

All Eli remembered was a scream escaped from Fiona's throat as his body felt the impact of the out of control car slamming into the limo

Then everything went black.

* * *

**A/N: Thoughts?**


End file.
